1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus which performs authentication registration or authentication invalidation (cancellation) of an authentication tag that is an RFID (radio frequency identification) tag used for authentication, by means of an operation tag that is an RFID tag used for an operation. It is noted that the term “authentication registration” means that an authentication tag is registered as a target to be authenticated, and may be referred to simply as “registration”, hereinafter. On the other hand, “authentication invalidation (authentication cancellation)” means that registration of an authentication tag as a target to be authenticated is invalidated or cancelled, and may be referred to simply as “invalidation” hereinafter.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, an IC card having a built-in RFID tag is used for authentication. As a method for authentication registration and/or authentication invalidation of the RFID tag, a method of performing a predetermined operation by using a registration card and/or a cancellation (invalidation) card is known (Japanese Patent No. 2683379, for example). The operation for authentication registration and/or authentication invalidation needs not only the registration card and/or the cancellation card but also an RFID tag that is a target of the authentication registration and/or the authentication invalidation.
However, in this case, if the IC card is lost, the RFID tag built in the IC card cannot be invalidated. In contrast, in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3144030, a management IC card paired with a registration united IC card or a management IC card grouped with a plurality of registered IC cards is prepared and retained by an administrator of the system. If a registration united IC card is lost, invalidation is performed by using the management IC card.
However, in the case where a management IC card is provided for each registered IC card or for each group of registered IC cards, if the number of IC cards or the number of groups of IC cards is great, the number of management IC cards becomes huge. As a result, management of these management IC cards is complicated, and the cost associated with the management is increased. In addition, since the administrator should manage a large number of management IC cards, the administrator might use an improper management IC card by mistake. Further, when an IC card belongs to a plurality of groups, it is difficult to cancel belonging of the IC card to a certain group among the plurality of groups. Therefore, usually, belonging of the IC card to all the groups is canceled by invalidation. In order to make the IC card belong to a desired group again, complicated management is needed.
An object of the present invention is to provide an authentication registration/invalidation apparatus which allows easy invalidation of an authentication tag when the authentication tag is lost, and facilitates management of authentication tags.